Elsa updates: Tropical Storm warning for S.C. coast; Beaufort County expecting heavy rains
The South Carolina coast is under a tropical storm warning as of 11 p.m. Tuesday, with gusty winds and heavy rain expected by Wednesday evening.
Hurricane Elsa, barely a Category 1 storm as it stayed just off Florida’s west coast, was predicted to lose strength Wednesday morning but bring 3 to 5 inches of rain to the Lowcountry, “with isolated maximum totals up to 8 inches,” the National Hurricane Center reported in its 11 p.m. update.
The worst of the rain is projected to arrive Wednesday night, with the storm shifting out of the area on Thursday, Douglas Berry, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said Tuesday.
The tropical storm warning was extended from Altamaha Sound, Georgia, to Little River Inlet, South Carolina.
Ron Morales, warning coordination meteorologist for the NWS Charleston, said rainfall is expected to be the biggest threat to Lowcountry coastal areas but is “probably the most difficult to forecast.”
Hurricane Elsa is expected to make landfall along North Florida’s Gulf Coast by late Wednesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. As of 11 p.m., the storm was moving north at 14 mph about 65 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, just enough to be classified as a Category 1 hurricane. Hurricane-force winds are 74 mph and higher; tropical storm-force winds are between 39 and 73 mph.
National Hurricane Center forecasters expect the storm to strengthen slightly through Tuesday night.
Hurricane-force winds extend 25 miles from the storm’s center, and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 80 miles from the storm’s center. There’s a threat of tornadoes Wednesday across the Lowcountry, southeast Georgia and north Florida, and a possibility of a 1- to 2-foot storm surge.
“As Elsa makes its trek across northern Florida into southeast Georgia, it is expected to weaken,” Neil Dixon, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Charleston, said Tuesday. “The latest forecast indicates it will be transitioning from a tropical storm to a depression as it reaches the Lowcountry of South Carolina.”
Storm timing
The earliest Elsa should impact South Carolina is Wednesday afternoon, Morales said.
A Wednesday evening high tide cycle lines up with when the storm is expected to be in the area, Morales said.
“You don’t need a hurricane, or major hurricane, to have rainfall problems,” Morales said. “This is a marginal tropical storm at best when it gets up here, and we’re still worried that the flooding and rainfall potential could be pretty high.”
There also is potential for a 1- to 2-foot storm surge along the coast. “This combined with heavy rainfall may result in locally serious coastal flooding,” according to a weather alert from the S.C. State Climate Office.
“We expect Elsa to be trucking along and moving out of South Carolina during the midday hours of Thursday, so conditions improve quickly through this time,” Frank Strait, severe weather liaison for the S.C. State Climate Office, said in the alert. “Our typical July heat and humidity resumes Friday through the weekend with highs in the low to middle 90s and isolated pop-up afternoon thunderstorms each day.”
The main potential risks from Elsa on the Lowcountry, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston, are:
- Tropical storm-force winds
- Rip currents
- Heavy rainfall and flooding
- Isolated tornadoes
How to deal with flash flooding
The South Carolina Emergency Management Division suggests doing the following in the case of flash flooding:
- Move to higher ground as soon as you see the possibility of flash flooding. Do not wait.
- Do not walk through moving water. 3 to 6 inches of moving water can cause you to lose your footing and fall. If walking in water cannot be avoided, go where the water is not moving. A stick can be used to check the firmness of the ground in front of you.
- No cars should be driven in flooded areas. If water does rise around your car, abandon the car immediately and relocate to higher ground.
- Never try to drive around or move barricades that are blocking a street.
This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 11:36 AM.
